Ok heres the situation.

84' gsl-se cherry in all ways except... ran through deep water and blew the motor ( hydrolock possibly )

at any rate, after 1 year of down time, winter is here and im ready to fix up the ol rex.
My friends see the condition of the car (perfection and still garage kept) and tell me to keep her original.
This is a solid point, however, I love to go fast,...really fast. money is really no object ( within reason ) i mean hell, im not gonna put $20,000 into it but I will sink some doe into it.

SO do I stay original and spend $1,200 - $1,500 or do I Turn out the rex and spend $5,000 - $7,000 and **** on camaro's & mustangs?

Im still undecided, maybe youll gimme ideas.

cya

EM

 

if you mean by stay stock looking, most people here will be very pleased. Me included. However, when it comes to engine fun, I would go nuts on engine mods. If your willing to pay $5000 in stuff, you should follow the popular classic TII turbo engine conversion. This will make your FB a very competitve car.

 

I'd recommend 'subtle' mods like K&N intake, Racing Beat full exhaust (header to tailpipe - one of the best mods for a GSL-SE) etc... keeps her looking mostly stock, but goes like a virgin at a prison rodeo.

If you do that, you'll need to remove the airpump helps cut down on backfires) When you take the pump off (Racing Beat includes a block-off plate) you'll need to install a yahoo belt or a dual alternator belt pulley to make sure your water pump keeps pumping. I carry dual belt alt pulleys and a few cosmatic goodies at http://www.rotorhead.ca

On my site you'll see the low-buck mods I've done to my SE to enhance performance, looks, or daily use (baggage net, f'rinstance) - not the sort of thing that terrifies mustangs, but makes her a nice ride nonetheless.

 

I tend to agree with "classic" looks - although aftermarket wheels and tires don't hurt. Engine-wise? Up to you, but go for it if you luv fast.

I was thinking, though, if you plan on running under water again - maybe a snorkel?

 

I had thought of the TII swap However Im not sure of the HP gain. Regardless of what I decide to do, the engine is getting plucked out this weekend.

I have also had thoughts of street port. again not sure of the gain.

Mantis, your suggestions are the same the my friends reccomend, dont go to far just in case the car becomes a true classic. this way I dont destroy the value.

My wife says I already have a sports car to tempt death in, why have two. I tell her I have the car, I have the tools, I have the garage and I have the cash! so why not.

ultimately i guess it comes down to will the car EVER be worth $$$$$.
if so the car is definitely one to keep, If not, The temptation is there to turn it into another one of the rods that 4 times the cash has been invested ...errr....dumped into it than it'll ever be worth wich in my book classifies it as a TOY!

By the way what is you web addy, id like to check out your site.

 

ADDITIONALLY,

is this delimma so easy to solve as regardless what I do to the engine, just put an original 13B back into her if she does become a collectable?

or rather a 13b snorkel-charged!!

 

I too have a mint, pristine GSL-SE.
My sig is my answer

 

IN fact!

it is your sigature that compell's me to stay stock, Ive actually looked it up to show others.
my rex is truly as clean.
I purchased the car new in 84'

Very very very nice car my friend, very nice

EM

 

Go Crazy. Build it to be a bad *** daily driver. Extensive engine and suspension mods with reliability and street driving pleasure in mind.

 

I would keep it completly stock on the exterior and interior accept for whels tires and suspension. As far as engine goes do what you want, but make sure you can easily put it back to stock if you ever want to go "nice classic".
Whatever you do have fun and kill some Hondas.

 

Well, I was orignally gonna keep my 83 S as stock as possible, but this winter I'll be doing a bunch of suspension work and some other little things. Also, this car has a NA FC enging swap in its future, but its gonna stay looking stock including the wheels. Its all up to you though, if you wanna mod it then mod it. Stock and modded FB's are both cool in their own way.

 

With all due respect Mantis and others, I fully see why some of you want to go a relatively stock route like headers and intake filter. I personally think thats "enough" for some of us depending on ability and ambition. And it seems like a lot of people like headers and intake mod's for their 1st gens. Myself included if its to be one of everyday car.

I used to think the orginality of the car required keeping it stock, however, its clear to me now that you can always go back, except the milage and severe rust or buy another car to keep "orginal" and just look at. But thats clearly not for me I found out, anyway, I ofcourse got the "horsepower bug" which is non-reversible. But anyway, I'm on 12a bridgeport "#3" (#3 secretly denotes something I won't disclose here) and modding up to my next major project because I NEED MORE...MORE MORE!!!!!! Can't ever get enough, seriously. But going from stock to were I'm headed will keep you satified for some time.

Anyway, if you plan to use it often, you'll probably get the "horsepower bug" soon!

Good luck again

 

I was bitten a long time ago.

 

me too, right in the *** it got me

 

I would not ever worry about the SE being worth any outragous amount of money. The SE is the holy grail for us Rx-7 guys and gals but it's realitivly unknown outside of our circles. They'll most likely never pull in the money that you see some 240Z's pull in, and can almost be sure that MAZDA isn't going to do a restoration program like NISSAN did with the Z.

I also don't totally agree with keeping cars stock, or even keeping the parts on the cars within the family. My opinion is that you will drive the car, you will own the car, you do what YOU want to the car.

I will say this, DO NOT get rid of the car, unless you want to sell it to me.

 

my thoughts exactly

 

just keep it clean. maintain as much of the stock look as you can (left up to me, i'd probably even keep the stock rims), but if you want to get more power, and maybe more refinement, go right ahead! how much? that's totally up to you, but my 2 scenarios would be:

1- MILD - have your motor blueprinted, balanced (get the rotor lightened) and streetported, then just get a nice EFI system based on one of the Gen II manifolds (4 injector), rebuilt tranny and rear.

2 - WILD - do a 13BT swap, upgrade to a T-04 and EFI.

then just bring the brakes and suspension up to snuff, and consider it done.

either one should yield a nice, driveable car that keeps a smile on your face, like this -> bling!

 

Nice web site Mantis...nice "se" as well...I like someof your Mods..( (the net idea is great!!)....cjf

 

I'm with diabolical. I'm probably retaining my stock rims as well. hmmm, well, maybe my 83 LE rims, but those are still "stock" well, sort of...

 

I have to add something:

With every mod I make I keep the stock part (stock rims, exhaust, etc. are all in my garage) so the car can be restored to 100% stock again (other than, perhaps, the stock silver dash insert, which is now painted black) If I do engine or drivetrain work I have the original part rebuilt so all numbers still match the chassis.

I bought her for $4,000 and she's now appraised at just a whisker under $20,000 (CDN) - about what she sold for back in 1985!

 

Look at it this way - you bought the car new (in the neighborhood of $16K) so you've already made a monetary commitment that will NEVER be recouped. Doing anything but putting in another stock 13B will net you less dollars in a sale.

Also, the engine the factory put in is presumably done. At this point 100% factory stock is not an option. Why not spend an amount that you're comfortable with and end up with what you want today? You did that 18 years ago when you plunked down a serious chunk of change. You now have the opportunity to lay down 1/3 of that amount and esentially breathe new life into an old friend and ending up with a better ride than what your ~$16K got you nearly two decades ago.

Have fun with 'er!

 

Huh?!? Is this an agreed upon insurance replacement value? I haven't seen an SE sell for more than half of that. I'm not doubting you, Manntis, I'm just curious where an appraiser would come up with such a figure...

 

Yup, an agreed valua appraisal. Had it done just this summer, right after the Racing Beat swaybars went in and I found myself doing corners at 50 KPH

 

So did your insurance premium go up?

 

nope. Gov't insurance monopoly here. 1 price for plates and basic insurace, 1 scale for package policies (basic package policy plus tires, glass, etc)